Method for controlling robot movement and robot

Abstract

A robot movement control method includes: acquiring position information about two adjacent obstacles located on two sides of a robot along the robot moving direction or a perpendicular direction to the movement direction, and calculating distance therebetween; determining whether the distance is greater than a first pre-set distance; defining a virtual obstacle boundary between the two adjacent obstacles if the distance therebetween is not greater than the first preset distance; and controlling movement paths of the robot by means of the virtual obstacle boundary. Also disclosed is a robot, including: a position acquisition module for acquiring position information of two adjacent obstacles, and calculating distance therebetween; a distance determination module for determining whether the distance is greater than a first pre-set distance; a boundary defining module for defining virtual obstacle boundaries; and a movement control module for controlling movement paths of the robot by means of the virtual obstacle boundary.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method for controlling robot movement, comprising:
 acquiring position information of two adjacent obstacles located on two sides of a robot along a moving direction of the robot or a direction perpendicular to the moving direction, and calculating distance between the two adjacent obstacles;   determining whether the distance between the two adjacent obstacles is less than or equal to a first preset distance;   defining a virtual obstacle boundary between the two adjacent obstacles when the distance between the two adjacent obstacles is less than or equal to the first preset distance; and   controlling moving paths of the robot based on the virtual obstacle boundary.   
     
     
         2 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein the acquiring position information of the two adjacent obstacles located on the two sides of the robot along the robot moving direction and the direction perpendicular to the moving direction comprises:
 along the robot moving direction or the direction perpendicular to the moving direction, acquiring position information of a first obstacle located on one side of the robot and position information of a second obstacle located on another side of the robot, wherein regions between the first and the second obstacle is obstacle free.   
     
     
         3 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein the controlling moving paths of the robot based on the virtual obstacle boundary comprises:
 when the robot subsequently moves to reach the virtual obstacle boundary, controlling the robot to move by defining obstacles located at the virtual obstacle boundary.   
     
     
         4 . The method according to  claim 3 , wherein the defining the virtual obstacle boundary between the two adjacent obstacles when the distance between the two adjacent obstacle grids is less than or equal to the first preset distance comprises:
 controlling the robot to continue moving so that the robot moves out of grids between the two adjacent obstacle grids, and then the virtual obstacle boundary is defined between the two adjacent obstacles.   
     
     
         5 . The method according  claim 3 , wherein the defining the virtual obstacle boundary between the two adjacent obstacles when the distance between the two adjacent obstacle grids is less than or equal to the first preset distance further comprises:
 when more than two virtual obstacle boundaries are defined, determining whether distance between the two virtual obstacle boundaries along any one of a first direction and a second direction perpendicular to the first direction is less than a second preset distance, and whether projections of the boundaries along a direction other than the direction used for calculating the distance have an overlapping area;   when the distance is less than the second preset distance, and the overlapping area is shown, the virtual obstacle boundary, which is defined at a later time, is selected to be deleted.   
     
     
         6 . The method according  claim 5 , wherein controlling moving paths of the robot based on the virtual obstacle boundary further comprises:
 during the process of moving, when the operated grids and/or the to-be-operated grids are detected to communicate with at least the two sub-regions, deleting the virtual obstacle boundary.   
     
     
         7 . The method according to  claim 3 , wherein the controlling moving paths of the robot based on the virtual obstacle boundary comprises:
 dividing the to-be-operated region into at least two sub-regions using the virtual obstacle boundaries; and   controlling the robot to traverse the to-be-operated grids and the unknown grids within one of the sub-regions, then deleting the virtual obstacle boundary, and controlling the robot to traverse the to-be-operated grids and the unknown grids of another sub-region.   
     
     
         8 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein, before the acquiring position information of the two adjacent obstacles located on the two sides of the robot along the robot moving direction and the direction perpendicular to the moving direction and calculating the distance between the two adjacent obstacles, the method further comprises:
 acquiring a virtual map of a to-be-operated region for the robot, wherein the virtual map is divided into a plurality of grids in an array; and   during a process of the robot moving, along the moving direction and the direction perpendicular to the moving direction, detecting status of grids, which are adjacent to the robot located grid, and marking the status of the grids on the virtual map, wherein a grid, which is passed by the robot, is marked as an operated grid, a grid which is detected to have an obstacle, is marked as an obstacle grid, a grid, which is detected to be obstacle free and is not passed by the robot, is marked as a to-be-operated grid, and a grid, which is not passed by the robot and status of which is not detected, is marked as an unknown grid.   
     
     
         9 . The method according to  claim 8 , wherein the acquiring position information of the two adjacent obstacles located on the two sides of the robot along the robot moving direction and the direction perpendicular to the moving direction and calculating the distance between the two adjacent obstacles comprises:
 along the moving direction or the direction perpendicular to the moving direction, acquiring the two adjacent obstacle grids located on two sides of the robot, and calculating the distance between the two adjacent obstacle grids based on position information of the two adjacent obstacle grids on the virtual map.   
     
     
         10 . The method according to  claim 9 , wherein
 the determining whether the distance between the two adjacent obstacles is less than or equal to the first preset distance further comprises determining whether the to-be-operated grid is located adjacent to at least one side of a grid between the two adjacent grids and communicates with the unknown grid;   the defining the virtual obstacle boundary between the two adjacent obstacles, when the distance between the two adjacent obstacles is less than or equal to the first preset distance, comprises:   when the distance between the two adjacent obstacle grid is less than or equal to the first preset distance, and the to-be-operated grid is located adjacent to at least one side of a grid between the two adjacent grids and communicates with the unknown grid, the virtual obstacle boundary is defined between the two adjacent obstacle boundary.   
     
     
         11 . A robot, comprising:
 a sensor configured to acquire position information of two adjacent obstacles located on two sides of the robot along a moving direction of the robot or a direction perpendicular to the robot moving direction; and   a processor connected with the sensor and configured to calculate distance between the two adjacent obstacles, determine whether the distance is less than or equal to a first preset distance, define a virtual obstacle boundary when the distance between the two adjacent obstacles is less than or equal to the first preset distance, and control moving paths of the robot based on the virtual obstacle boundaries.   
     
     
         12 . The robot according to  claim 11 , wherein the sensor acquiring the position information of the two adjacent obstacles located on the two sides of the robot along the robot moving direction or the direction perpendicular to the moving direction comprises:
 along the robot moving direction or the direction perpendicular to the moving direction, the sensor acquiring position information of a first obstacle located on one side of the robot and position information of a second obstacle located on another side of the robot, wherein a region between the first and the second obstacle is obstacle free.   
     
     
         13 . The robot according to  claim 11 , wherein the processor is further configured to control the robot to move by defining obstacles at the virtual obstacle boundary, when the robot subsequently moves to reach the virtual obstacle boundary. 
     
     
         14 . The robot according to  claim 13 , wherein defining the virtual obstacle boundary when the distance between the two adjacent obstacles is less than or equal to the first preset distance comprises:
 the processor controlling the robot to continue moving out of grids between the two adjacent obstacle grids, and then defining the virtual obstacle boundary between the two adjacent obstacles.   
     
     
         15 . The robot according to  claim 13 , wherein defining the virtual obstacle boundary when the distance between the two adjacent obstacles is less than or equal to the first preset distance further comprises:
 when more than two virtual obstacle boundaries are defined, the processor determining whether distance between the two virtual obstacle boundaries along any one of a first direction and a second direction perpendicular to the first direction is less than a second preset distance, and whether projections of the boundaries along a direction other than the direction used for calculating the distance have an overlapping area;   when the distance between the two virtual obstacle boundaries along any one of the first direction and the second direction is less than the second preset distance, and the overlapping area is shown, the virtual obstacle boundary, which is defined at a later time, is selected to be deleted.   
     
     
         16 . The robot according to  claim 15 , wherein the processor controlling moving paths of the robot based on the virtual obstacle boundaries further comprises:
 during the process of moving, when the operated grids and/or to-be-operated grids are detected to communicate with at least two of the sub-regions, the processor deleting the virtual obstacle boundary.   
     
     
         17 . The robot according to  claim 13 , wherein the processor controlling moving paths of the robot based on the virtual obstacle boundaries comprises:
 dividing the to-be-operated region into at least two sub-regions using the virtual obstacle boundaries;   controlling the robot to traverse the to-be-operated grids and the unknown grids within one of the sub-regions, then deleting the virtual obstacle boundary, and then controlling the robot to traverse the to-be-operated grids and the unknown grids within another sub-region.   
     
     
         18 . The robot according to  claim 11 , wherein, before the sensor acquiring the position information of the two adjacent obstacles located on the two sides of the robot along the robot moving direction or the direction perpendicular to the moving direction and calculating the distance between the two adjacent obstacles,
 the processor is further configured to acquire a virtual map of a to-be-operated region for the robot via the sensor, wherein the virtual map is divided into a plurality of grids in an array;   during a process of moving, the sensor is configured to detect status of grids adjacent to the robot located grid along the robot moving direction and the direction perpendicular to the moving direction, further, the processor is configured to mark the status of the grids on the virtual map, wherein a grid, which is passed by the robot is marked as a operated grid, a grid, which is detected to have an obstacle, is marked as an obstacle grid, a grid, which is detected to be obstacle free and is not passed by the robot, is marked as a to-be-operated grid, and a grid, which is not passed by the robot and the status of which is not detected, is marked as an unknown grid.   
     
     
         19 . The robot according to  claim 18 , wherein
 the sensor is further configured to acquire two adjacent obstacle grids, which are located on two sides of the robot along the robot moving direction or the direction perpendicular to the moving direction;   the processor is further configured to calculate distance between the two adjacent obstacle grids based on position information of the two adjacent obstacle grids on the virtual map.   
     
     
         20 . The robot according  claim 19 , wherein
 the processor determining whether the distance between the two adjacent obstacle grids is less than or equal to the first preset distance comprises determining whether the to-be-operated grid is located adjacent to at least one side of a grid between the two adjacent obstacle grids and communicates with the unknown grid;   defining the virtual obstacle boundary when the distance between the two adjacent obstacles is less than or equal to the first preset distance comprises:   when the distance between the two adjacent obstacles is less than or equal to the first preset distance and the to-be-operated grid is located adjacent to at least one side of a grid between the two adjacent obstacle grids and communicates with the unknown grid, defining the virtual obstacle boundary between the two adjacent obstacle grids.